After getting off the cruise, Tagore made a statement to those who welcomed him: "Friends, I don't know why, but when I go to China, it is like returning to my hometown, and I always feel that India is an extremely close relative of China, and China and India are very old and dear brothers. ”

Then, accompanied by Xu Zhimo, he took a car to the Cangzhou villa on Jing'an Temple Road to rest.

Cangzhou Villa is considered a high-end residential apartment in the Shanghai Concession, which was arranged by the Commercial Press, and Tagore and his party lived in rooms 23 and 24.

Lin Zixuan did not follow, but left with the reporter of Time Magazine.

The Western journalist got the news material he wanted and prepared to leave Shanghai for a visit to Wu Peifu in Beiping.

This is the main task of his trip to China.

In the eyes of Westerners in this era, Wu Peifu, who defeated Zhang Zuolin, was the most likely to unify China, and the strongest in this ancient country.

Regarding this statement, Lin Zixuan just smiled and did not express his opinion.

How can you Westerners know about the unpredictable and unpredictable political situation in China?

He put the journalist on a train and returned home.

His reception task was basically completed, at most he would listen to Tagore's speech tomorrow, have a symbolic exchange, and then send Tagore to Beiping, which was as simple as that.

In the Cangzhou villa, Tagore and his party of six settled down.

During his visit to China, he led Shen Mohan, a professor at an international university and a scholar of Sanskrit, and Nandarabos, dean of the School of Arts at an international university and a great painter of the modern Bengali school.

He not only wanted to have cultural exchanges with Chinese scholars, but also proposed a concept of "Asiatic" culture.

That is, Asian culture, and Asia was called "Asia Minor" or "Far East" in this era.

Rabindranath Tagore believed that Western civilization was on the verge of bankruptcy. Only Eastern culture can save human civilization, so. The three Asian countries of India, China and Japan should unite to resist the invasion of Western culture.

He realized the destruction of Eastern culture by Western culture.

Young people admire Western culture and abandon the traditions of their own countries. In the long run, the country will be assimilated by the West and will have no culture of its own to speak of.

During his visit to the United States in 1918, he held a lecture entitled What is Art? ".

"The greatness and magnificence of Oriental art, especially in Japan and China, lies in the fact that the artists there see the soul of things and believe in them," he declared. ”

Rabindranath Tagore wanted to communicate with leading scholars in the field of Chinese culture and thought and promote his concept of "Asian culture".

Perhaps because of the lack of information, he does not know much about the real situation of China's cultural circles, and does not know that China is in the midst of an upsurge of advocating the copying and imitation of Western political systems and scientific culture.

Many people think that as long as they learn everything in the West. China will become stronger.

After resting for a while, Tagore remembered Lin Zixuan, who shook hands with him on the cruise ship.

He often visits and lectures in Europe and the United States to understand how Westerners view Asians, so he was very curious about Lin Zixuan's interview with American reporters, so he asked Xu Zhimo about it.

As a poet, Xu Zhimo has always been very excited after meeting Tagore, just like a young fan in later generations seeing the emperor superstar.

He was naturally aware of Tagore's inquiry.

He also recited several of Lin Zixuan's poems in English, I have to say. The English version of the poem lacks the charm of the Oriental language, and it doesn't sound very good.

What Tagore cared about was that Lin Zixuan wrote a novel that sold well in the United States.

It's a pity that the stories written are all set in the United States, not traditional Chinese literature, but this also shows Lin Zixuan's understanding of Western society.

And. Lin Zixuan's status in the Chinese cultural circle is not low, and he may understand his claims.

He thought he could talk to the young man.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, Tagore was accompanied by Xu Zhimo and others. I came to Longhua, which is located in the southwest of Shanghai, to enjoy the flowers.

There are famous places such as Longhua Temple and Longhua Tower, and many nearby farmers plant peach blossoms. The view is outstanding.

In the afternoon of the next day, Tagore went to a monastery in Zhabei to attend a welcome party hosted by the Indians for him.

Subsequently. Initiated by four groups, including the Shanghai Autonomous College, the Lecture Society, the China Public School, and the Literature Research Association, a tea party was held to welcome Tagore at Zhang Junmao's residence at No. 37 Murming Road in the Public Concession.

The event was scheduled to be held outdoors.

On the lawn of Zhang's house, a red velvet sofa was placed in the center, which was Tagore's place, and the other guests sat on the stools in the front row, because there were many more students, and there were not enough places, so they had to sit on the grass.

Rabindranath Tagore gave his first speech in Shanghai.

In the evening, Xu Zhimo took Lin Zixuan to the Cangzhou villa and had a conversation with Tagore for half an hour.

In the conversation, Tagore promoted his own ideas, and talked about his views on Eastern culture, believing that only by reviving Eastern culture, there is a way out for ancient countries such as India and China, and blindly imitating Western society will not succeed.

Lin Zixuan welcomed Tagore's arrival.

It's just that he wanted to tell the Indian poet that in the current Chinese environment, this kind of proposition is destined to be given a cold reception.

Even Liang Qichao and Xu Zhimo only used Tagore to build momentum for themselves, rather than really believing his ideas.

The conversation between the two was not very smooth.

Lin Zixuan attaches great importance to the traditional culture of the East, but he is unwilling to raise the flag for Tagore's ideas.

In China in this era, a more distorted view is that the propaganda of traditional culture is to turn back the clock on history, and it will be criticized.

If Lin Zixuan spares no effort to advocate Tagore's revival of oriental culture, it will definitely attract the fire of critics, and Tagore can return to India, and he will continue to live in China.

"Another young man who believes in Western ideas." After Lin Zixuan left, Tagore said with disappointment.

Next, Xu Zhimo took Tagore to Hangzhou to visit the beautiful scenery of West Lake.

After returning to Shanghai from Hangzhou, on the afternoon of April 18, more than 1,200 people from the Commercial Press, the Declaration and other institutions, as well as people from India and the West, held a grand welcome party for Tagore in the library conference room of the Commercial Press on Baoshan Road.

Dressed in a black robe and wearing a red hat, Tagore came out to give a speech.

The content of his speech was not poetry, but "The Crisis of Eastern Civilization".

He was concerned about Shanghai's industrial civilization and urbanization, and he believed that in Shanghai, due to the introduction of Western material civilization, there was no longer the slightest hint of Chinese cultural spirit.

At the end of the speech, everyone set up a banquet at the Gongdelin Vegetarian Restaurant on Beijing Road to entertain Tagore.

Gongdelin Vegetarian Restaurant is the largest vegetarian restaurant in Shanghai, and many celebrities will choose Gongdelin when they are sent to it.

After the banquet, some representatives sang Peking Opera and played the guqin for Tagore.

After a busy day, at 12 o'clock in the middle of the night, Tagore ended his first trip to Shanghai and went to the Shanghai China Merchants Pier to embark on the road north. (To be continued.) )